Save Your Favourite Australian Author/Illustrator

Introduction

Attention all students - this is a literary EMERGENCY!

Your favourite Australian authors have been kidnapped by the greedy publishing company, Stolen Ideas Inc., and they refuse to release the authors until they each produce the plot for a new bestselling book! Kids everywhere are terrified that they will never see or hear from their favorite authors again - we need your help!

The Department of BookLand Security requests your services in developing these bestselling book ideas so we can meet the demands of Stolen Ideas Inc. In order to complete this task, it will be necessary for you to participate in an author study. Through this research, you will discover details about your assigned author that will guide you in the creation of your book plot.

Task

Over the course of term 2 you will be required to complete a range of very important tasks, which will allow you to become better acquainted with the author that you have been assigned to save.

In your guided reading groups you will become investigators for the Department of BookLand Security. Your major task will be to conduct a thorough author study of the kidnapped author by discovering/completing the following:

- Biographical information

- Other books the author has written

- How the author came up with story ideas

- Compare/contrast to determine common themes/settings/characters

- Find out if they were working on any new story ideas before they were abducted

Your investigative team will use this information to develop an Author Information Portfolio, the plot for your author's next bestseller, and the cover art for the book. Remember - these authors and your fellow students are counting on you!

Process

Your teacher will divide you into groups of four and assign each group an author to save. The following authors were kidnapped and need your help:

Now that you have been assigned a group and an author, each member must choose a role to play as you work to save your author.

The role descriptions are listed below:

Credits

Resources/references

WebQuest narrative inspired by:
Melanie, B. (2008). Save your favorite authors: An author study. Retrieved from http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=17683 

Jeannie Baker Resources

Images

http://parisblog.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2013/04/313735-jeannie-baker1…

Margaret Wild Resources

Images

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/scarily-ever-after-20130322-2…

Graeme Base Resources

Images

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mali-sculptures-seen-and-now-herded-ba…

Libby Hathorn

Images

http://www.sydneystoryfactory.org.au/libby-hathorn-comes-to-the-ssf/